Pack an adapter...

If you go overseas, you are likely to encounter a different power socket from your home country's. It wasn't a big deal for me about 10 years ago (I wouldn't take my hair dryer, for instance; and my sister had given me a battery-operated alarm clock) when I would travel for fun. Now, it's a different story. As I often travel for work, I have to bring my laptop. Plus I am always with my mobile too. Moving to Switzerland meant that we left our electronics in the US and purchased many adapters to take care of our electronics needs.

Before my first visit to Switzerland, I thought European sockets were all the same. Then I took my first business trip there, to Geneva, and discovered that I was completely wrong!

Power socket in Switzerland

So my EU adapter didn't work, of course. I hadn't bought the worldwide adapter at the airport (priced at over $80, I couldn't justify it) and just relied on using the office's power cords.

After moving to Europe, and (I thought) well equipped with both the European and Swiss adapters, I later went onto a business trip to Italy, and encountered a completely different power socket, which made me laugh:

In Italy

 
I think I'm going to have to get the worldwide adapter after all.